Self-assembling dipeptide antibacterial nanostructures with membrane disrupting activity

Lee Schnaider, Sayanti Brahmachari, Nathan W. Schmidt, Bruk Mensa, Shira Shaham-Niv, Darya Bychenko, Lihi Adler-Abramovich, Linda J. W. Shimon, Sofiya Kolusheva, William F. DeGrado () and Ehud Gazit ()
Additional contact information
Lee Schnaider: Tel Aviv University
Sayanti Brahmachari: Tel Aviv University
Nathan W. Schmidt: Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California
Bruk Mensa: Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California
Shira Shaham-Niv: Tel Aviv University
Darya Bychenko: Tel Aviv University
Lihi Adler-Abramovich: Tel Aviv University
Linda J. W. Shimon: Weizmann Institute of Science
Sofiya Kolusheva: Ben Gurion University of the Negev
William F. DeGrado: Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California
Ehud Gazit: Tel Aviv University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Peptide-based supramolecular assemblies are a promising class of nanomaterials with important biomedical applications, specifically in drug delivery and tissue regeneration. However, the intrinsic antibacterial capabilities of these assemblies have been largely overlooked. The recent identification of common characteristics shared by antibacterial and self-assembling peptides provides a paradigm shift towards development of antibacterial agents. Here we present the antibacterial activity of self-assembled diphenylalanine, which emerges as the minimal model for antibacterial supramolecular polymers. The diphenylalanine nano-assemblies completely inhibit bacterial growth, trigger upregulation of stress-response regulons, induce substantial disruption to bacterial morphology, and cause membrane permeation and depolarization. We demonstrate the specificity of these membrane interactions and the development of antibacterial materials by integration of the peptide assemblies into tissue scaffolds. This study provides important insights into the significance of the interplay between self-assembly and antimicrobial activity and establishes innovative design principles toward the development of antimicrobial agents and materials.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01447-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01447-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01447-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().